Official October 2020 Thread!

[Raya]

Just cancelled our August trip and booked flights for October 10 to 15. We're hoping for a room discount but if rack rates are the only option we'll be at Swan and Dolphin. We're going back and forth on driving down - which means an extra night in a hotel, resturant meals and bathroom breaks - vs. a 3 hour flight. I can't decide which is safer. Mostly I'm just hoping things are good enough covid wise for us to go.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Just cancelled our August trip and booked flights for October 10 to 15. We're hoping for a room discount but if rack rates are the only option we'll be at Swan and Dolphin. We're going back and forth on driving down - which means an extra night in a hotel, resturant meals and bathroom breaks - vs. a 3 hour flight. I can't decide which is safer. Mostly I'm just hoping things are good enough covid wise for us to go.

I found some great rates on priceline

 

[Raya]

I found some great rates on priceline

I've heard that before but I'm never sure how it works. Are you blind bidding?

 

[Ecomommy09]

We are still on the fence.
I would love to hear your reasoning/thought process.

We have about 3 weeks booked. Bonnet Creek/Boardwalk/Beach Club. It all sounds wonderful. But then I start thinking.......
Also have park reservations so no issues there either.

Right now, I figure we still have 2 full months. A lot can happen but no vaccine for sure.
Mask compliance appears to be good at WDW, but not Disney Springs.

I do not expect a vaccine until late 2021 for the general population. I might be able to volunteer for early testing (frontline worker), but I doubt I want to be the first to test a vaccine for coronavirus. We have never succesfully created a coronavirus vaccine. I was one of the first to get the H1N1 flu vaccine, but we make influenza vaccines every year. I wasn't concerned about safety with that one. There is a potential for protein overlap with the coronavirus vaccine that could cause autoimmune disorders.

The biggest risk (IMO) is the flight. It is short for us (90 minutes) and we could wear our masks and faceshields for the entire trip. I'm not planning to eat on the plane.

We have great evidence that masks prevent spread, and I rented a car, so I'm not concerned about transport around disney, the hotel room, the restaurants, or the parks. Mask, wash your hands regularly, carry hand sanitzer, wash your hands again. Wash your hands. Wear your mask.

IF, however; my state is requiring a quarantine after return from Florida, we wouldn't be able to go...I can't take 2 weeks off + my vacation for a vacation.

IF, we had coronavirus before our trip and recovered, we would DEFINITELY go. Immunity seems to be lasting 3 monhts, so I could be very confident we wouldn't be at risk of getting sick again.

I would miss the parades, meet & greets, etc....but we already did our BIG disney trip (aren't we lucky it was 12/2019!) and this was a mostly pool trip. I am NOT afraid of COVID19 in the pool. We are swimming every week here at home.

So that is my reasoning, for what it's worth.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

I've heard that before but I'm never sure how it works. Are you blind bidding?

No, it's just 3rd party. I have been told people find them in the blind bidding I just have not.

 

[Ecomommy09]

Made my ADRs. I wasn't really sure what to book. All the things we had planned are closed. I think my 5 year old would like Rainforest Cafe, so I booked that for our arrival day at Disney Springs. I booked Be Our Guest for lunch on our MK day. On our all-pool-all-the-time day I booked a breakfast at Grand Floridian Cafe. I plan to eat the rest of our meals QS. My only real dining regrets are that we can't do Ohana breakfast (it is my DH's favorite thing at WDW) AND they don't have Storybook Dining.

 

[lumpysluck]

I’m from SC. Just booked October 18~22 Staying off site bc I gotta i
use my IHG points. Just waiting to book a few ADRs. Anyone know if capacity will be the same? We were gonna go on the cruise in October but that’s out now

 

[wilkydelts]

Heads up to all October people Disney changed park hours today so double check your plans

 

[GirlfromTN]

Heads up to all October people Disney changed park hours today so double check your plans

Yea not just changed but shortened. Ugh.

 

[MaxsDad]

Not liking these new very short park hours. Don't know what this means for my late ADRs and what to even do after the park closes.

6pm close?

Ugh, I just checked on two of my ADR and there is nothing else available. So frustrating that disney expects you to plan 60 days out when they can't.

 

[thehappyplace]

Hello everyone! We are scheduled at POR Oct.4. I read that Disney will contact me about moving us to a different resort since POR will not be open, but does anyone know when I should expect that information? I had been considering shortening our trip a bit but was waiting to hear where we would be staying. Thanks!

 

[csmith1004]

Hello everyone! We are scheduled at POR Oct.4. I read that Disney will contact me about moving us to a different resort since POR will not be open, but does anyone know when I should expect that information? I had been considering shortening our trip a bit but was waiting to hear where we would be staying. Thanks!

I could be wrong but the way I understand it, you have to call them or they will end up canceling your trip. If you want to be moved free of charge you have to be careful to ask where they are moving you and not request a resort. If you ask to be moved somewhere they can charge you the difference. Someone please correct me if I’m wrong - I’m at Pop so I haven’t had to deal with this myself.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

Yea not just changed but shortened. Ugh.

Now another reason to rent a car..

 

[Disneyfan754321]

For those that have been in October before..
How is the weather in mid October? What should I plan for?

 

[Ecomommy09]

For those that have been in October before..
How is the weather in mid October? What should I plan for?

General Highs of 85 and lows of 68. Only an average of 5 days of rain versus the wet months. That said, I've been when they had a weird cold snap and we couldn't really swim and I've seen October days that were warmer.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

General Highs of 85 and lows of 68. Only an average of 5 days of rain versus the wet months. That said, I've been when they had a weird cold snap and we couldn't really swim and I've seen October days that were warmer.

Nice.. I knew I planned for October because it would be cooler than August/September.
So I'm guessing take a pair of pants just in case.

 

[MNswimmer18]

Well, we booked our flight on 7/31. Still on the fence a bit, but delta prices went back down and they still were doing no fee for changing flights if you booked in July, so we booked. Now, we need to book our meals in two weeks, then we'll be all set.

 

[MaxsDad]

We officially cancelled our trip planned from 2-7 October today. We had rented non-refundable points through Davids and asked them about a month ago if they could try and find a new renter for the points. Received an email today saying someone is taking the reservation, which honestly surprised me because there was so much available on their website. We didn't want to lose the money we paid so we made all our park and dining reservations and even with everything going on started to get excited even though we were hesitant. While it is a relief to not have to worry about the health issues it is a little bittersweet now that we know we aren't going.
The main reason we wanted to cancel is because my wife has asthma and we were worried about going, especially flying, it will be nice not to have to worry about that. In addition, the shortened hours and lack of park hopping, parades, or fireworks and cancelled Universal Horror nights also played a factor. We were going to go for moonlight magic at DHS but that was cancelled too. We both have APs we haven't used yet so no loss there.

On the other hand though it was our first adult only trip in 11 years. We were going to celebrate our anniversary (belated) and my birthday, which is a couple of days before the trip and I think we were both looking forward to being there together.

Overall it is probably a good decision, cost wise and health wise. But it definitely stings a bit. 3rd cancelled trip this year.
We took the credit from David's so, we will try for next October.

 

[AquaDame]

We officially cancelled our trip planned from 2-7 October today. We had rented non-refundable points through Davids and asked them about a month ago if they could try and find a new renter for the points. Received an email today saying someone is taking the reservation, which honestly surprised me because there was so much available on their website. We didn't want to lose the money we paid so we made all our park and dining reservations and even with everything going on started to get excited even though we were hesitant. While it is a relief to not have to worry about the health issues it is a little bittersweet now that we know we aren't going.
The main reason we wanted to cancel is because my wife has asthma and we were worried about going, especially flying, it will be nice not to have to worry about that. In addition, the shortened hours and lack of park hopping, parades, or fireworks and cancelled Universal Horror nights also played a factor. We were going to go for moonlight magic at DHS but that was cancelled too. We both have APs we haven't used yet so no loss there.

On the other hand though it was our first adult only trip in 11 years. We were going to celebrate our anniversary (belated) and my birthday, which is a couple of days before the trip and I think we were both looking forward to being there together.

Overall it is probably a good decision, cost wise and health wise. But it definitely stings a bit. 3rd cancelled trip this year.
We took the credit from David's so, we will try for next October.

Definitely makes me regret not at least trying... I also assumed no way with so many rentals on there. Congrats!

 

[georgina]

Definitely makes me regret not at least trying... I also assumed no way with so many rentals on there. Congrats!

Me too! Maybe I should have tried. I’ve got 4 nights in a BWV studio through David’s, and a lot of the reservations on there for rent are larger more expensive accommodations.